A former fine dining chef is making some of the best pizza in the country out of a Miami strip mall
Vice City Pizza in Kendall has been praised by The Infatuation, landed on the NYT’s Top 25 Restaurants in Miami list, and kept people driving across town for another slice.
📍 Vice City Pizza 2615 SW 147th Ave, Miami, FL 33175
Not bad for a spot operating out of a former Quiznos.
Chef Carlos Estarita is a Miami native who has cooked at some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world. That includes a stint at Maido in Lima back in 2016, when it was ranked eighth in the world. It’s now number one. He also cooked at Zuma Miami, Coya London, Roka Mayfair, and Michy’s under Michelle Bernstein.
Vice City came together after his fine dining gig at Shoto in Washington D.C. shut down during the pandemic. When he got back home, he started slinging pies out of his backyard. That turned into a pop-up at Bar Abi Maria. Then it became this.
The pies are built from scratch on an 80% hydration dough that bakes up shatteringly crispy on the bottom and pillowy inside. The toppings push the limits of what you expect from a Detroit pie. Ropa Vieja. Truffle Honey Ricotta Mushroom. Combinations that have no business working as well as they do.
This is what happens when a world-class chef stops chasing stars and starts chasing something that actually makes people happy.
Carlos and I go all the way back to middle school at Lamar Louise Curry. Two Kendall kids who love food, reuniting over Detroit pizza. What a joy.
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